2 pre-teen pirates sent back to Somalia

NAIROBI, Kenya – Two Somali children traveling the high seas with pirates are being sent back to Somalia.

The two pre-teens — ages 12 and 11 — were captured in January with 12 other Somalis on suspicion of piracy. The 11-year-old was acquitted because of his age. The 12-year-old was sentenced to a provisional release upon being sent back to Somalia.

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The Seychelles police said Monday that the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime was helping to fly the two back to northern Somalia to be reunited with their families.

A recent report by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea said the international community is investing big resources to pursue pirates at the bottom of the chain — such as illiterate youth — instead of going after piracy's powerbrokers.